Fallen (21 page)

I shook my head. “He’s not her father. He’s got no more claim on her than I do.”

Michael’s eyes narrowed. “How can you be so sure? You don’t even know who he is.”

“Trust me. It’s just…not possible.”

“I’m afraid your word is simply not going to cut it. He’s going to want to check out his purchase for himself—”

My hands were around his throat before he could finish his sentence. Shock crossed his face, quickly replaced by anger. “You refer to her as anything less than a person one more time, and it’ll be the last thing you say.” The threat was controlled as it left me, but that didn’t make it any less lethal.

He staggered back when I released him, rubbing his neck as he muttered, “I’ll take that as your two weeks notice, then.”

“Try two second,” I mumbled, brushing past him as I went to leave.

He grabbed my arm and said, “Don’t think for a second that your little marking stunt worked. All it’s done is buy you time.”

I shrugged out of his grip. He was probably right, but damn it if I was going to let him know it. “Bring it on, bitch.” I hauled open the library’s doors, flipping him the bird as I marched out.

Gabriel came back minutes later, his features grim as he ushered me towards the door. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

I didn’t think tonight would go well, but I also didn’t think we’d be fleeing five minutes after we got here. Maybe more like twenty. 

Looking over my shoulder at the doors he’d just exited, I hissed, “What the hell happened in there?”

“I just quit. That’s the hell that happened in there—”

“Gabriel!”

Both of us turned at the sound of his name. Through the crowded foyer, I saw a blond man descend the grand staircase, his impeccable appearance what I’d come to expect from all Hidden.

“Shit,” Gabriel muttered under his breath.

Before I could ask him who that was, he was pulling me through the crowd, towards the mystery man. “Philip,” he said. “I didn’t know you’d be here tonight.”

The man—Philip, I guess—rolled his eyes, looking utterly bored. “I hadn’t planned on it, but
someone’s
got to reign in the circus Michael’s created with that fakakta council.” His face brightened as he noticed our clasped hands. “And who is this beautiful young lady?”

Young?
He barely looked older than me, though I knew that wasn’t the case. It was still surreal, though.

Gabriel looked uneasy. “This is Emily. Emily, this is my uncle.”

My eyes widened.
Oh, shit.

Philip bowed. “Enchanté, mademoiselle.” Bemused, his lips quirked up into a half-smile. “I can tell by your expression that he’s mentioned me once or twice.”

My cheeks burned as I glanced at Gabriel. “Yes.”

“I trust he’s said nothing but good things.” He winked to let me know the statement was in jest, and I smiled.

“Mostly,” I replied.

He laughed and patted Gabriel on the back. “I like this one. Let’s not muck it up, shall we?”

Gabriel’s scowl was almost comical.

“Come,” Philip said, extending his elbow to me in a gentlemanly manner. “Let’s enjoy the festivities.”

“Actually, we were just about to leave,” Gabriel interjected. 

“Nonsense.” He dismissed Gabriel’s statement with a wave of his hand. “The fun hasn’t even started.”

Fun? I looked around the foyer, to all the Feeders milling about in hushed conversations, drinking champagne in their designer clothes. What about this stuffy cocktail party could possibly be
fun
?

I conveyed as much to Gabriel with a lift of my brow. He shook his head, his solemn face telling me I wouldn’t like whatever “fun” there was in store.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

EMILY

We followed Philip down the hallway, until we got to a set of thick double doors stained a rich, glossy dark brown. Intricately carved detailing around the borders caught my eye as they opened.

The Great Room was aptly named, I saw. My heels clicked on the white marble floors, the sound carrying up to the twenty-foot ceiling. An ornate crystal chandelier hung above the middle of the room, adding to the soft illumination of the wrought iron and frosted glass sconces set on the dark cherry wood-paneled walls. The wall opposite the room’s entrance had several sets of French doors, all of which led out to a stone terrace.

The twenty or so Feeders in the room–standing in small groups, talking amongst themselves–didn’t pay much attention to Gabriel and I as we entered the room. 

“Did you bring your phone?” he asked as he pulled his out of his pocket.

I nodded. “Why?”

Gabriel didn’t answer my question. Instead, he started typing into his phone, and several seconds later, my clutch vibrated once. I pulled out my new phone and saw he’d just texted me. My face scrunched up as I gave him a confused look. I was less than two feet away from him, so why…?

He must not want the others to hear what he has to say.

I started pressing buttons to view his message, but frowned when my address book opened instead. I handed him the phone, muttering, “I don’t know how to work this stupid thing.”

He rolled his eyes and pressed some buttons, causing the phone to beep softly before handing it back to me. His message was:

Go to the bathroom—down the hall, take a left, 3rd door on the right. I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.

I cocked an eyebrow at him, but didn’t ask any questions. Dropping the phone back in my clutch, my heels clicked on the marble as I crossed the room and left. 

Once inside the bathroom, I closed the door and set my purse on the black granite countertop, checking my reflection in the huge gilt-framed mirror opposite me. My face was a little flushed, but it had a tendency to do that when I got anxious. I smoothed my hair and reapplied some lipstick, then leaned against the countertop to wait for Gabriel. 

He cracked open the door a few minutes later and slipped in.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

Crossing his arms, he leaned against the vanity. “This is a
dinner
party,” he said, giving me a pointed look.

I gripped the countertop for support as the whole world seemed to shift under my feet. “
What?
” I breathed, my eyes growing wide in horror.

He nodded. “They’re going to bring out a group of humans and set them free.”

My brows drew together. “Why would they do something like that?” 

“It’s a game to them,” he said. “They release them only to chase them down.”

“Like cats,” I murmured as I stared off into space. “They play with their prey before going in for the kill.”

“Yeah, sort of.”

There was no way we could stop this. I
knew
that, and yet I felt compelled to do something, to help somehow, but what? We were massively outnumbered, and if we tried anything, we’d get slaughtered.

We didn’t stand a chance.

I might not have been able to save any of them, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to sit by and watch them die. “Let’s go.” I grabbed his hand and turned to leave, but he remained where he stood.

“We can’t leave yet.”

“Why not? I don’t want to…
watch
.”

“The others will think it’s odd if we leave now, before the…festivities.”

“
So?
Let them think it.”

He shook his head. “You need to blend in, Em. The last thing you want is to draw unnecessary attention to yourself.” He ran his hand through his hair, making patches stick up in disarray. “I have an idea, but you’re going to have to follow my lead, okay?”

I bit my lip, glancing back and forth between the bathroom door and Gabriel. “I don’t know… I can’t watch those people die.” My throat constricted at the thought. “Please don’t make me.”

He took my hand in his. “Do you trust me?”

I nodded. 

“Then follow my lead.”

We left the bathroom and headed back to the Great Room. Everyone was still milling about and deep in conversation. We resumed our spots by the wall, waiting for…well, I didn’t know what we were waiting for. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, if I may have your attention, please…” A male’s resonating voice brought my head out of its fog, and I turned to see him by the French doors. He unlocked and pushed open each door in rapid succession, taking all of two seconds. With a slow, human pace, he walked over to a section of wall and placed his hand on a gold doorknob I’d missed before. He turned the knob and pulled open the hidden door. “Dinner is served.” 

Gabriel grabbed my hand and started pulling me into the eager crowd of Feeders surrounding the door. What was he doing? I looked up at him with panicked eyes, trying to break free of his grip. 

He looked down at me and mouthed, “Trust me.”

I stopped trying to fight him and went with it. Once we were closer to the front of the crowd, I saw the man reach into the black void revealed by the hidden door and pull out a crying, naked woman. Her wrists were shackled and bound with thick iron chains that were attached to the next prisoner, a naked man. He was secured to the next prisoner, and so on and so forth, as a parade of naked humans of different sizes and races were drawn out from whatever dark recesses they’d been kept.

Gabriel rearranged his hold on my hand, this time lacing his fingers through mine. He squeezed my hand gently, and I squeezed back, refusing to let go, for it was the only grip on reality I had at the moment.

I lost count of how many humans were dragged out, which was for the best. I couldn’t look any of them in the face, so I looked at the Feeders surrounding me, which was not any better. What I’d once considered as beautiful faces were now twisted with desire for the flesh of these humans. 

My stomach churned as I closed my eyes briefly. At the click of a shutting door, I made the mistake of looking in the direction the sound had come from. 

The man had closed the hidden door in the wall and was walking past the row of humans. “On tonight’s menu, we have Chinese,” he said, stopping to run his fingers along the arm of a petite Asian woman, who shuddered at his touch. “American,” he murmured, petting the long blond hair of the next woman. 

I quickly averted my eyes to the floor, shallowly breathing through my nose in an effort not to throw up. My ears registered a rustle of chains, but I refused to look up. That is, until someone grabbed my hand.

My head jerked up, and I found myself staring into the big brown eyes of the first woman dragged out. She was about the same height as me, with long brown hair, bloodshot eyes, and a tear-stained face. 

Her eyes implored mine as she gripped my hand. “
Help me
,” she sobbed. 

My chest tightened as my eyes burned. “I—”

I can’t. I can’t save you.

She was yanked away from me by her chain, the man reprimanding her for “bothering his dinner guests.” I turned away from everything and looked up at Gabriel, who was looking at something over my head with a worried expression on his face. 

A few seconds later he looked down at me, his jaw clenched. “Kiss me.”

“What?”

He pulled me into him. “Close your eyes and kiss me.
Now
.”

The urgent tone of his voice made me do as I was told. I closed my eyes, immediately feeling his lips on mine. His hands cupped the sides of my face, his palms positioned over my ears. It took half a second to realize why he’d done all this as muted screams broke out. I squeezed my eyes shut tighter, feeling the tears trickle down my cheeks as he pulled me into him more.

“You’re not very convincing,” he breathed against my lips. “Kiss me like you mean it.”

I brought my hands up and snaked my fingers through his hair, pulling him closer. He pressed harder against my ears, muting the sounds of death even more. Opening my mouth, I felt his tongue against mine, and breathed in his sweet honeysuckle scent—

I also breathed in something else, which made my muscles lock into place as I froze. It smelled salty and coppery. 

It was
divine
.

A low growl rumbled in my chest. I had no idea it would be this enticing.

Gabriel’s nose brushed my jaw. “It smells good, doesn’t it?”

I bit my lip and nodded, keeping my eyes shut for fear of the carnage that awaited me when I opened them.

“Do you want a taste?”

My whole body screamed “yes,” but my mind said “no.” It took everything in me to shake my head.

After a second, I felt him nod. “Okay. We’re going to run outside into the garden. Keep hold of my hand and keep your eyes on me. Ready?”

Lifting my lids, I met his gaze and nodded. As he led the way, I focused on the back of his suit. We were almost to the French doors when I messed up. A bright pool of red and a flash of skin caught the corner of my eye, and I made the mistake of looking.

Body parts were strewn about the room, mangled and bloody.

I covered my mouth as my stomach churned, though the smell was heavenly. I didn’t take another breath until we were outside, hidden by the trees and bushes.

“Are you okay?” Gabriel asked me, checking the area to make sure we were alone.